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(No Model.)

A. T. HAGEN.

IRONING MACHINE.

No. 326,556. Patented Sept. 22, 1885.

' UNITED 'TATES PATENT FFICE.-

ARTHUR T. -HAGEN, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

lRONlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 326,556, dated September 22, 1885.

Application filed May 22, 1884.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR T. HAGEN, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shirt-Ironers, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to produce an improved roller shirt-ironer possessing certain advantages for holding the work and for varying or adjusting the pressure of the rollers upon the parts of the garment being ironed, and other advantages, all of which, with the construction of the machine, being fully set forth in the following specification and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved shirt-ironer, showing some of the movable parts as occupying two positions; Fig. 2, a front elevation of the same, viewed as indicated by arrow y in Fig. 1, parts being broken away and other parts omitted; Fig. 3, a view of the upper parts of the machine, seen as indicated by arrow a in Fig. 1, portions of the frame and other parts being broken away, parts of the frame sectioned on the dotted line m in Fig. 1, and a part of the major roller centrally and longitudinally sectioned on the dotted line 00 in thesamefigure, with other movable parts shown as occupying two positions; and Fig. 4, an enlarged detached view, showing more clearly the manner in which certain parts are moved to vary the relative pressure at the ends of the rollers upon the work, sometimes convenient and necessary.

Referring to the parts, A is the frame of the machine, preferably made of cast-iron, consisting, mainly, of two similar open standards, b b, joined by one or more cross girts or ties, I), in a manner that is common.

B is the main shaft of the machine, resting in journal-boxes d d at the tops of the respective standards I) 1). Both ends of this shaft overhang. the frame, and upon one overhanging end is secured a spur-gear, f, which is turned by a pinion, f, which pinion, with the belt-pulleys g g, revolve on a simple stud projecting from the side of the frame, all of common construction. Upon the other overhanging end of the shaft is secured a hollow iron roller, 0, the shaft piercing the end of the roll (No modeLl the same length as the roller 0, in a position to meet and roll against or upon the face of the roller 0, the former roller being a companion to the latter roller, between which rollers the garments are ironed and polished. I A pinion, k, on the shaft B works into a gear, Z, on the shaft E, by means of which the roller D is rotated; but the proportion of the parts is such that the surface of the roller 0 moves at a much greater rate of speed than that of the surface of the roller D.

The rectangular block or box h, holding at one point the shaft E, is fitted to slide on bearings in a rectangular oblique cavity or opening, a, formedin the frame. The position of this cavity is such that when the block is moved upward or downward therein it will be moved in a line toward or from the axis of the roller 0, and the roller D will in consequence be moved directly toward or from the roller 0, as indicated by dotted and full line positions of said roller D in the figures. The roller D may be dropped slightly back from its companion to release the garment being ironed, or it may be dropped fully back and have its motion stopped by the gear Z and pinion is being drawn out of gear. This stopping of the table-roller is necessary in performing the operation of sponging off specks and doing other work. The block or journalbox h at the other end of the shaft also occupies a similar opening,a,in the frame, but is. hung by a ball-joint, c,which permits the lateral motion of the roller D, above described. The ball 0 is preferably formed at the end of a screw, t, which is threaded within a projecting lug, f rigid with the frame of the machine. By turning the screw one way or the other by means of a lever, k, inserted in holes a in the head it of the screw,or by other simple means, the box h will be carried toward or from the shaft B, causing the rollerD to press against the roller 0 more firmly at the points 6 e, as the case may be, when the former roller is brought up against the latter by means hereinafter described. This adj ustment of the pressure at the different ends of the rollers is essential in ironing shirt-fronts and other work, for it is necessary at times to bring a greater pressure to bear at some points or parts of the fabric than at others.

The roller D is swung to and from the other roller by means of a treadle, F, of common form,connected indirectly with a lever, moonveniently held in position to act upon the box or block k", holding the roller-shaft. Ahorizontal shaft, r, is hung in bearings on the in side of the standard I) of the frame, to which the treadle-lever u is attached,a vertical rod, i, joining the long end of the lever n,being secured to an arm,s,at another part of the shaft. The opposite end of the lever n is bent upward near the box h, and a stud, o, rigid with the box, projects out from the latter to meet the face of the lever, as shown.

As will be seen from this construction of parts, by pressing the foot upon the treadle the roller D will be forced against the roller 0. A spring, it, upon the rod i, held between a projectionyv, of the frame,throngh which the rod passes, and a collar, 12', on the rod, serves to lift the rod and treadle so as to allow the small roller to drop away from the large one, excepting when it is wished by the operator to bring them together in the act. of ironing or polishing a. garment between them- The small roller is upholstered; or covered with many thicknesses of cloth, so as to present a yielding surface to the hard, smooth face of the large roller, the latter of which is the ironer and polisher for the work,while the small padded roller serves as the ironing-board or ironing-surface.

Froc observing Fig. 1 it will be seen that the line joining-the centers of the rollers is oblique,which brings the small roller partly out at one side of the large roller, leaving the up per surface of the former uncovered or exposed so as to form a sort of table, upon which the work rests conveniently for the attendant to perform certain operations upon said work, hereinafter described.

When a garment is placed uponthe roller D, to be ironed or polished, it will occupy the position indicated by the heavy dotted line 19,- that is: to say, it will lie in contact with the upper half of the surface of the, roller, with the pendent parts occupying the positions of tangent planes thereto, the lines of tangency of the garment and roller, or lines atwhieh they separate, being on opposite sides of the roller at 0 0. The, line of contact 0 between the two rollers, owing to their relative positions, is very near the line of tangency o between the roller D and the pendent portion of the'garment, on account of which any given part of the cloth of the garment as it passes over the latter roller will remain in contact with the surface of the same during a considerable interval of time before receiving the action of the polishing-roller, and leave the surface of the padded roller immediately after receiving such action. Thisisimportant. Usually in this class of shirt-ironers the padded roller D is placed directly under the polishing-roller O, on account of which the pressureline between them is at the top of the roller D, or just midway between the lines of tangeney 0' 0".

Before ironing, the cloth of the garments is dampened, which dampening is frequently done imperfectly and unevenly, so that some parts of the cloth are saturated, while other parts are comparatively dry. On account of any given part of the cloth being for some time in contact with the surface of the padded roller before being acted upon by the polisher, the dampness of the cloth becomes equalized, as time is given the padding of the roller to absorb much of the superfluous water from the overwetted parts and communicate dampness to the drier parts of the cloth, evenness of moisture in the cloth being desirable; and, further, starched cloth having passed the pressure line, where it is firmly premed against the cloth of the padded roller, is caused to adhere slightly to the padding, and, if allowed to remain in contact therewith for a brief period, it adheres with considerable energy, giving the operator some trouble to remove it. When hot from contact with the heated roller, even, starched cloth is very pliable from the vapor of the water temporarily held in the fibers of the cloth; but the heat quickly drivesv off the vapor and leaves the cloth comparatively rigid from the contained starch. The evaporation and cooling of the cloth are very rapid, and equally rapid is the increase in degree of adhesion with which the cloth holds to the pad. 011 these accounts the sooner the cloth is peeled from the pad after having passed the heated roller the easier it will part therefrom, its own: weight being sufficient to cause it to leave the padded roller as the latter turns and pend tangentially therefrom, as indicated by the dotted line when the line along which it parts from the roller follows immediately the premureline between the rollers. By placing the rollers relatively as shown, the pressuredine between them is brought close to the line of tangency o and distant from the line of tangency 0, which at once allows the cloth or garment being ironed to remain in. contact with the padded rollerduring the longest possible period of time beforebeing acted upon by the polishing-roller, and tobe separated from said padded roller atthequickest possible interval after receiving such action of said polishing-roller.

During the process of ironingor polishing a garment specks of dust or particles floating in the air are liable to fall upon and adhere to the surface of the dampened cloth, which, if not carefully sponged off before passing under the polishing-roller, leave dark spots or streaks onthelaundered: work. In using my invention this sponging is done conveniently by the operator upon the upper surface of the padded roller, which roller, being mounted in a different Vertical plane from the other roller,

is practically uncovered, and constitutes a convenient table upon which the said sponging 5 may be performed; also, other detail operations necessaryin producing first-class worksuch as straightening out folds and wrinkles in the dampened cloth before passing it between the rollers, raising the plaits in shirt- 1c fronts and other garments, &c.can be done conveniently upon the uncovered padded roller. This position of the padded roller also very much assists the operator in examining the work as it is being done to see if it I 5 is all going on right. The work frequently has to be drawn back and examined, and, perhaps, resubmitted to the action of the polishjug-roller. When the rollers are placed one over the other, as in other shirt-ironers, it is not convenient to examine the work, remove the specks, straighten out the wrinkles, 85c.

Were the axes of both rollers in a horizontal plane, the pressure-line 0 between them would be on the distant side of the padded roller from the operator and practically out of his sight, so that to witness the action of the polishing-roller upon the cloth would be inconvenient.

As will be seen, the roller 0 is cut away or 0 reduced at r and the roller D at s, opposite,

the reduced parts together forming the space 10' between the rollers, which opening or space serves several important purposes. While the bosom of a shirt, for instance, is being pol- 3 5 ished (the upper end of the bosom being at the end eof the rollers and the'bosom going through under the polishing-roller sidewise) the flap can be readily bunched and passed through the opening 10, and thus avoid having wrinkles 4o ironed into it by being crowded through be tween the bearing-surfaces of the rollers; and, again, frequently in running shirt-bosoms or other articles through the rollers said articles need to be pulled or stretched longitudinally as they are receiving the action of the rollers, which with this form of rollers can be easily done by the operator, allowing the righthand to pass by at the ends of the roller at e and the left hand pass through the opening 10, each hand grasping an edge of the article being polished.

The reduced parts 1 and s of the respective rollers G and D being formed directly opposite each other, and the outer ends of the rollers being even or overhanging the frame to the same distance, the working faces or surfaces of the two rollers are of equal length, measuring between the reduced parts of each and their even overhanging ends.

Ironing-machines for laundry use having overhanging companion rollers, one padded and the other of smooth polished metal, with means to move them nearer together or farther apart, and actuating mechanism to rotate them at different rates of speed, are not new, and such I do not broadly claim.

What I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In an ironing-machine, the ironing-rolls O D, in combination with their-shafts B E and gears k I, the movable bearings h h of the lower shaft, E, the fixed screw-tapped lug f and the screw-threaded adj usting-rod t, which has a ball-and-socket connection with bearing h and engages with said lug, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

ARTHUR T. HAGEN. Witnesses:

E. B. WHITMORE, J. A. WALTERS. 

